Robert Sanford Jr., a retired Chester firefighter from Boothwyn who threw a fire extinguisher at police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol riot, was sentenced Tuesday to more than four years in prison, writes Michael Kunzelman for the Daily Times.

“Sanford also hurled obscenities and insults at the law enforcement officers on the Lower West Terrace, calling them ‘traitors,’ ” a prosecutor, Janani Iyengar, wrote in a court filing.

He had pleaded guilty in September to assaulting, resisting or impeding police officers using a dangerous weapon.

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman sentenced Sanford to four years and four months with three more years of supervised release.

Sanford was a 26-year firefighter before retiring in 2020. 

He went to Washington with friends on a bus trip organized by the conservative activist group Turning Point USA.

He was also at Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally before marching on the Capitol.

His lawyer said Sanford believed that police had attacked him and others when he threw the fire extinguisher.  

Sandford has been working with a cult deprogramming specialist over the “facts” of a baseless conspiracy theory that the Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election from Trump, defense attorney Andrew Stewart said.

Read more about Robert Sanford’s sentencing in the Daily Times.

MSNBC reports on the sentencing of Robert Sanford.